To make a long story short I recently purchased a 2012 boat with 19 hours on it from a dealership in Vancouver. I live 12 hours away so the reason I purchased from them is it had the right colors and options I was looking for.
I paid for the boat, and we arranged a mutual meeting point for delivery. At the delivery point it was raining and the cover was on the boat. Being naïve I trusted the reputation of the dealer (and the brand he sells) and took the boat home… here is where everything went downhill.
The boat is missing about 5 grand of options that the dealer committed in writing (email) that the boat would include. He has been very apologetic and promises to rectify however it has now been a month and I have nothing but empty promises and broken commitments.

My question is, “How long do I wait before I invite a lawyer to participate”? I want to be fair and reasonable but…..

Call the dealer and inform them that you are tired of waiting and want it fixed immediately. That's nothing more than outright theft, and everyone on this page hates thieves, just go look at the "I hate" thread. Tell them they need to fix it or else you'll be forced to pursue legal action. If that doesn't light a fire under them, then get the lawyer involved.

Name said dealer is a start. This is ridiculous! Is it a factory dealer. The longer you wait the more they have taken complete advantage of you. You are going to miss work hand deliver the boat back, and show up with the cops and your lawyer for fun.

get it done now The longer you wait the harder it will be because you are in essence still using the "product". Take it back to the dealer drop it in the driveway and show up with a legal letter. What options are missing? were the dealer installed options or mfg installed options. That makes bit of a difference. Call your bank immediately and get someone on the line who handles the loans. Tell them they haven't delivered what your ordered yet....if you paid cash well then thats gonna be little tougher.

Wait... So a guy who sold you at least a $50,000 item and took you money is being non-responsive for a MONTH and you need to be polite (civil) to him? Those kind of people count on non-squeaky wheels in order to get by. There's not a single valid excuse for delivering a boat like that (even more-so with no notice to you) and then delaying with more excuses for a month.

I'd immediately write him a demand for the missing items, bullet-pointed in the letter with a time frame for a written response or work order to install the specific items. I would include and reference a copy of your purchase contract or paperwork showing the missing items as part of the purchase. It would cost you nothing to cc the attorney you spoke to on the bottom of the letter (name, firm & address). State also that the next letter he will get will be from the attorney cc'd in your letter.

It's time to not "cajole" him any longer but give specific demands with specific dates followed by specific consequences/actions on your part. Take charge instead of letting him be in charge. Stick to facts & dates and written correspondence. This is not being unreasonable. It's just doing business firmly and you'll feel much better about it.

I do not know the laws where you are at, or if this is even applicable but in construction a customer only has 60 days to to put in writing all deficiencies of the contractor to be dealt with. If you do not, you have no recourse.

I had a very similar situation to this. The manufacturer helped a lot and then I had another little trick on top of this. If you don't get any where with the rep, pm me and I will give you some further advice.